FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this game free to play?

Yes, Dark World RPG is a free to play game. The only thing you may spend here is time.

Where do I apply?

You can apply to the Dark World RPG by joining our site, and then submitting a character application. All prospective applicants will go through a character approval process. If your character is approved, your will be upgraded to member status and can begin participating in the game.

What are the requirements?

We don’t expect perfect writing, but having decent English and writing skills are important to the enjoyment of our game.

Read the game rules. Read general history. Join our website, and then submit a character application via our application form.

All prospective players must have an active working email account. Our group is run through Yahoo!Groups, so players will be required to connect to Yahoo!Groups.

If your application is accepted, players are required to have their group settings set to ‘daily digest’ or ‘individual emails’.

Knowledge is power, and applications that show you didn’t really read the rules and/or information provided does not make for a good first impression.

Players are expected to participate. Post, and post regularly.

How do I play and what format does this game run in?

The DWRPG is a free-form play by email game that runs in a story format, written in third person perspective. Each player writes for their character, interacting with other characters to progress the story. We don’t use dice or character stat sheets to determine how characters work. The DWRPG is like a huge storybook that each player participates in creating.

Why the rated ‘R’ rating? Why do I have to be 18 or older to play this game?

This is an ADULT game, played by adults. It is not for children or young teens.

Our game has violence, controversial stories, sometimes graphically detailed violent events and or actions unsuitable for a younger audience. Sexual acts can also occur in the game- although writers are to write any such scenes with taste (as in no explicit, detailed sexual acts) and add an Adult Content warning in the thread’s title.

You denied my character application! Why?

There can be several reasons as to why. Lets explore those.

1. Insufficient information. There is a lack of care taken in your character application, and the fields were not filled out appropriately.

2. Extremely poor writing. Yes, we will deny you for painfully poor spelling and grammar – which we will admit, has been exceedingly rare.

3. Your application needs adjustments. Something just wasn’t right or wouldn’t work in our game realm, and so we will write back with any issues that need addressing. You can either fix those issues we listed and resubmit your character, or don’t, that’s up to you. Just remember – you are creating a character that lives in our game realm, not yours or their own. We are more than willing to help with character building, but you will also need to be open for constructive critique.

4. You didn’t follow the rules. Yes, it happens from time to time, and all we can say is… bad on you.

5. You spammed your application. We get busy, we have lives too, please don’t spam us.

6. You didn’t join our website and submit a character application. Applying just to the Yahoo!Groups is not applying to the game. All we can say is you should actually read our website and the directions on our Yahoo!Groups pages.

7. The character application was a horrendous piece of shit. Yes, harshly put, but there’s no way to put it lightly. This character application is beyond our help – it will contain rule violations, plagiarism, inaccurate history, inappropriate material, lack of thought, and/or god-moding issues that just cannot be permitted.

Character applications don’t need to be rushed, take your time, read the information presented, make a good character, and your ‘own’ character at that. There is a great wealth of information on our site, and as mentioned we can help you with your character if you are willing to accept constructive critique.

Can I have an uber sword, axe, weapon, etc, of destruction?

Um… no. Did you read our rules? Obviously not.

*cough* God-moder*cough*

Can I have a pet unicorn? How about a dragon?

No. Pets of ‘magical’ and ‘fantastical’ nature are not available in the DWRPG. Characters can have pets or familiars, but these are limited to ‘animals’ that exist in the realm, that are trained to work with characters. Hawks, ravens, rats, cats, dogs, so on, nothing mystical. No talking pets, no dragons, no unicorns, Pegasus, phoenixes or anything else crazy you can think of. Just because this is a fantasy world doesn’t mean it is illogical.

What are you looking for in characters? Is there a type you are in need of, class, race?

We are looking for good players – which means good characters will follow. To predetermine what you’d play would not be as fun as picking a race, class, and profession that you know you’d enjoy. We do have some race restrictions for new players, and some races are for NPC use only. So keep that in mind when applying.

Some things do have to be taken into consideration, like race populations. Humans are the largest race, and so likely you should see a lot of humans in the world. Then the other races follow, the Elsyven and Deshiven being some of the smallest.

The main thing is play someone you’d enjoy, but remember, power isn’t always important. In all our years of play most of our members found playing a character that isn’t powerful to start can be far more rewarding than a character that has everything at hand. Also, originality is great, but don’t go overboard. If you need help, ask, we are willing to help out in character creation if you need it.

Do I have to post my example writing?

No. Your sample writing is for us to see how well you can write in a Dark World setting. We do take a great deal of consideration over an application based on the sample writing, for it shows us your writing style, how you handle situations, and what kind of player you are. It also gives us insight on your writing skills – which are important for a game such as ours.

If you wish to use your sample writing as your first post, well that’s up to you, but no it is not necessary. Also, if your already a member of DWRGP you don’t need a sample writing at the bottom of any applications.

How do I determine how much my character weighs?

An appropriate weight is based on gender, race, age, height, build, and percentage of body fat. This can vary from character to character, depending on many circumstances. We do our best to list average weights and heights on each racial description.

Characters of different races will naturally have differences in weight, especially those of the large variety, such as Centaur, Orcs, Evidae and Bakhyar. Use common sense, do a little research, and if there is a problem figuring out an appropriate weight for your character then ask. We can assist you in this matter.

Why can Israidians open portals between realms? Why can’t I open portals?

The people of Israidius opened a gateway to Calamia much by accident. This spell has only been learned by Jeremas and Gornaz, and even for them it is a very dangerous and volatile spell. Only one other being has been able to open a gateway to Calamia, and that was a Celestial, who died in the process.

No one in Calamia can open a gateway to Israidius because its never been done, and likely won’t ever be. There is only one way to Israidius and that’s through the first gateway opened by Jeremas, which its whereabouts are unknown. (No, players don’t know and can’t know where the gateway is. Applications saying so will be declined.)

Opening portals or moving from place to place by magical means of any sort, or by any means, to anywhere, with characters or NPC’s is strictly prohibited, unless otherwise permitted by the GM’s.

Why no guns? Why no cannons?

It’s not a feature we’d like in the game. There are many other methods, primarily magic, that are highly effective in fighting and warfare. Guns are not needed in our realm and will never be available.

Is religion in the game strictly based upon those listed, or can there be other gods?

No, it is not strictly based upon the Gods we have listed, and in fact the same gods we have listed could possess many different names. People can also make up ‘false’ gods, that don’t exist but people still worship anyway. It is important to note, however, that the ‘known’ gods do play a major role in the world as a whole.

That said, no one absolutely has to worship the Gods in our realm. Many people hate them, and that’s entirely their choice. However, their existence is hardly questioned by many, given their influence in the world and the abilities of magus with divine or shadow magic. We aren’t looking to make anymore ‘Gods’ for the game, however.

Applications with a god, god-like character, or a child of the gods will be declined.

How does currency work?

The currency in Calamia is called a ‘ryn’, which are stamped from a durable metal that is extremely hard to ‘fake’ or duplicate. Ryn comes in many different stamped coins, all minted by their nation’s capital, they can be used just about anywhere (warring kingdoms might not be so welcome on seeing their enemies currency though, so be careful) with a nation’s emblem on the face of it, and the value amount on the back. They range in value from one, five, ten, fifty, and one-hundred – though all of them are also based on weight. The heavier the coin, the more value it has.

On average simple things, like a drink or meal can cost between one to ten ryn depending on where you dine. A simple weapon can cost over fifty to one hundred ryn. So be wise, not all characters are rich. You don’t have to remember how much they carry, but keep in mind you don’t possess a magical bag of holding, keep your ryn usage in mind.

Is there a strict posting order? What is proper reply etiquette?

There isn’t a set or strict “posting order” in the game. It’s more about courtesy, reaction, and necessity.

Place yourself into a room for a second, with a bunch of people. Now ask yourself… are you actually going to have a conversation with every single person in that room all at once? Occasionally, yes, but more often than not, no. Usually you will have one or two people talking to one another, while others are standing around listening, sometimes jumping in and adding their thoughts to the conversation, or they are having a conversation with somebody else in the room. Given this, a group of characters can have varying response orders to posts based on interactions.

In the cases where a conversation or conflict involves three or more people, then yes, a “posting order” does becomes present between those characters, out of respect for their reactions to the events presented. If it is an event that requires all characters to react, then each character requires a post before all characters in that group post again. If your character is being directly addressed, then yes they are the next in a posting order. There is also common sense that comes into play.

A good rule of thumb is if you are waiting on someone, state so on the OOC board. If you want a direct reply from a specific character, then tag them at the end of your post, ex: [Tag – Name]. That way you are voicing your need to want to post, or request to get a specific reply.

Also, keep in mind that if a thread becomes stagnant – meaning a character hasn’t been replied to in over a week – that player can choose to move the thread on and exit the situation. While they cannot directly control the actions or responses of other characters, they can control their own and exit the scene to move their character on to other things.

How does posting work?

Players have their characters interact with other characters in ‘threads’, with each thread being a specific story line. New members can join most active game threads (if that thread is still open for new characters), and begin interacting with other characters. GM’s will place a new player’s character in a thread based on their character type, personality, and history – so that they can have good interactions.

Each thread is unique to a character group, giving them a different goal, plot and interactivity from other game threads. We list game threads in this format: Thread Title (character name) So, as an example, a thread would read like this in our posting forums: The Journey North (Cereth). The thread title remains the same until an arc ends or the thread leader or GM change it.

We write in a story format, third person perspective. Although we know there are many people who like to write in first person, it is just not a style we like or want used in the game. There are also some players who prefer to write in present or past tense. We do not have a strict ruling on this and allow the players to write in whichever form is more comfortable and appropriate for their writing style.

Players are required to include the game’s current date, year- time, location, region (if applicable) and continent on the top of their post. If you are just joining the game, all players posts will have this listed and you can just lift it and place it on your own starting posts. An example of this would be:

(Florarest 18, 3119 ADW – Morning, City of Ise, Espia, Thelahar)

At the bottom of posts we usually close off with a (Tag). This means it is open for other players to respond to. If you want you can be specific and have the tag feature open for a certain character, where you’d list it (tag, name.) You can also include any OOC messages or notes at the bottom of your post in this manner. For example: (Tag – OOC: That was great! :D) If your post is not open for other characters to respond to, then you’d list it (Closed, to be continued.)

Someone did something I didn’t like in a post. What do I do?

If there is a situation where you are upset by a player’s actions in a post, be it controlling your character or breaking rules, contact a GM to discuss it. If the situation deems it a post can be retracted or an edit requested by the GM’s.

How far is too far when it comes to writing Adult Content?

We are ok with sexual content, because we are an adult game, however we do expect it to be written appropriately and within reason. You are in control of your character’s sexual needs, and so if there is a time or place they wish to express them that is solely up to you. However, we ask for our writers to be tasteful – not smutty or trashy. This is NOT a smut romance novel.

All posts with adult content should have an (Adult Warning) listed in the thread title, after the character name. Example: Day at the Inn (Siganei – Adult Warning).

Also, if the situation involves other characters that you don’t control, then you need to ask. Contact a player directly and discuss ideas with them, including any possible adult content that could occur between characters. Find out what would be appropriate and what wouldn’t be.

Description wise, going into extreme detail on the act itself is not necessary. Describing the sexual organs in explicit detail is also not necessary, for we are quite sure all group members know how they look and work. Best thing to do is if you question it, ask a GM or player and get their opinion